Chap. 10. Review of the Reformation. 429 Blandrata, had done all in their power to prevent his commitment, or procure his release afterwards.' The difference between Socinus and David was very slight; they both held Christ to be a mere man. The former, however, was for praying to him; which the latter with much greater consistency, disapproved. Considering this, the persecution to which Socinus was accessary was as great as that of Calvin; and there is no reason to think, but that if David had differed as much from Socinus as Servetus did from Calvin, and if the civil magistrates had been for burning him, Socinus would have concurred with them. To this it might be added, that the conduct of Socinus was marked with disingenuousness, in that he considered the opinion of David in no very heinous point of light; but was afraid of increasing the odium under which he and his party already lay, among other Christian churches.-It was the opinion that erroneous religious principles are punishable by the civil magistrate; this doctrine all the reformers, with very few exceptions, had learned at Rome, this conviction did the mischief, whether at Geneva, in Transylvania, or in Britain; and to this, rather than to Trinitarianism or to Unitarianism, it ought to be imputed." Historical facts have given us an opportunity of observing the distinction that may be made between the persecutions carried on by the church of Rome and those practiced by reformers and reformed churches. With the papal power, persecution can hardly be considered in an ecclesiastical point of light; Rome had nothing less in view than the subjection of the whole world, and the creation of a worldly principality, to which every human government was to bow, and by which disposition the property and the lives of mankind were to become the property of the man of sin. Too much of the same spirit was manifest in the long continued persecuting 480 Review of the Reformation. Cent. 16. acts of the church of England: but in such acts as we have witnessed in the martyrdom of some anabaptists and Socinians, persons charged with heresy or blas pheming, the acts have been purely ecclesiastical, and though, to be reprobated, yet by no means to be considered in the same light as the persecuting acts of the Ro man court. And this will lead to another distinction, which may be made between the spirit of persecution as manifest under the sanction of a priest ridden government, and that discovered only under the influence of a depraved mind in which the eivil government takes no part, such as we may see in countries where religion is tolerated without any regard to sect or denomination. In such a civil state how can a man become a persecutor ? Why he can retire into his chamber and invent scandalous falsehoods, and come out and circulate them to the prejudice of bis religious opponent: or he can either through ignorance, or want of correct information, or through malice, misrepresent a brother or a class of professing Christians, so as to excite public feeling, and thereby hold such up to contempt and hatred; he may fix upon them a ludicrous or opprobrious name, by which they will be known and pointed at in society, and by which means they will lose their influence and due character in the community, and by which perhaps they will be reduced in their worldly property and made poor. This is persecution! and such as is too common in countries where light and liberty are the subjects of boast. But we are not to gather from hence that every thing is persecution of which some religionists frequently complain. A free and open discussion of theological subjects; an attack upon sentiments deemed erroneous, pointing out what may be considered their unchristian character or bad moral tendency; a charge of a want of ingenuousness, or of disguising a system which if openly Chap. 10. Review of the Reformation. 429 Blandrata, had done all in their power to prevent his commitment, or procure his release afterwards.' The difference between Socinus and David was very slight; they both held Christ to be a mere man. The former, however, was for praying to him; which the latter with much greater consistency, disapproved. Considering this, the persecution to which Socinus was accessary was as great as that of Calvin; and there is no reason to think, but that if David had differed as much from Socinus as Servetus did from Calvin, and if the civil magistrates had been for burning him, Socinus would have concurred with them. To this it might be added, that the conduct of Socinus was marked with disingenuousness, in that he considered the opinion of David in no very heinous point of light; but was afraid of increasing the odium under which he and his party already lay, among other Christian churches.-It was the opinion that erroneous religious principles are punishable by the civil magistrate; this doctrine all the reformers, with very few exceptions, had learned at Rome, this conviction did the mischief, whether at Geneva, in Transylvania, or in Britain; and to this, rather than to Trinitarianism or to Unitarianism, it ought to be imputed." Historical facts have given us an opportunity of observing the distinction that may be made between the persecutions carried on by the church of Rome and those practiced by reformers and reformed churches. With the papal power, persecution can hardly be considered in an ecclesiastical point of light; Rome had nothing less in view than the subjection of the whole world, and the creation of a worldly principality, to which every human government was to bow, and by which disposition the property and the lives of mankind were to become the property of the man of sin. Too much of the same spirit was manifest in the long continued persecuting SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. CHAPTER I. STATE OF THE ROMAN AND GREEK CHURCHES. THE ROMAN CHURCH having sustained such amazing loss by the reformation, it was found necessary to seek out the means whereby the evil might be remedied. The peace of Augsburg had confirmed the protestants in their rights, and forbad violence on either side; Europe, therefore, afforded little prospect to encourage the hopes of Rome, and nothing could be expected unless some new and extraordinary projects were adopted. The eager pontiff bent on the redemption of lost authority, east a wishful and ambitious look towards the eastern and western worlds. For the accomplishment of this important work, an institution was set on foot, entitled De propaganda fide, consisting of cardinals, priests, and monks. The business of this new society was to be ever on the look out for ways and means to propagate the catholic faith. Other associations of a similar character were incorporated, all of which were aided in their op eration by the new and distinguished order of Jesuits. Thus furnished with missionaries, and with missionary plans, the Roman bishop set forward in the grand scheme of Christianizing the remaining heathen partof the world. In Asia, the papal doctrine was asserted among the pagan inhabitants of Siam, Tonkin, China, and also Chap. 1. The Roman Church. 433 in many parts of India, together with Persia and Japan. The victorious arms of Spain and Portugal had opened a door in South America. But whether in these several countries Christianity prevailed upon the pagans, or whether paganism more effectually gained upon the missionaries, is difficult to determine. Such was the accommodating creed of the papal church, that ber ministers were allowed to become all things unto all men, in order to gain the more: and this plan of accommodation extended to paganism, mahometanism, and with many other isms that fell in their way. For such enterprises as these the Jesuits were peculiarly adapted; being men of learning and of science, they were fitted for every subtilty, and equal to every contrivance: the furtherance of the Roman church was the only object; and if this end was attained, the means, if ever so abominable, were sanctified, and the agents most certainly rewarded with eternal felicity in the world to come. It cannot be denied, but that the labours of these missionaries were great, and the sacrifices they were called to make, together with the sufferings they endured, proved them sincerely attached to the catholic cause. It is said that many thousands were brought within the pale of the church, and the same testimony assures us, that among these labourers themselves there were envy and strife, and every evil work-Dominican against Franciscan, and Jesuit against both; they were not sparing in the charges they brought against each other, and the general way of answering the charges preferred was to recriminate, and so jealousy, malice, and the spirit of this evil world, made up the chief features of this grand mission. Before the conclusion of this century the far greater part of these foreign missions proved abortive; the in |